Hamas releases hostages: Austrian family man happily combined!

Hamas releases hostages: Austrian family man happily combined!

On Saturday, in the Gaza Strip, the radical-Islamic terrorist organization Hamas handed over the Austrian citizen Tal Shoham and the long-term geisel Avera Mengistu to the International Committee from the Red Cross (IKRK). This dramatic handover took place in Rafah and was shown in a live broadcast on television, while hooded and armed Hamas fighter staged the scene with music and Palestinian flags, such as Kurier reported.

Shoham, an Israeli-Austrian double citizen, had been held trapped for over 16 months. During his kidnapping, which began as part of the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023, he was deported from the Kibbutz Be’eri together with several family members. His wife and the two small children, also German citizens, were released on November 25, 2023 in the course of an exchange. In addition to Shoham and Mengistu, which had been in custody for almost ten years, a total of six hostages were released. In return, more than 600 Palestinians from Israeli prisons are to be released, including around 50 high-ranking Hamas members, reports Exxpress .

After the handover, the hostages were transported to a nearby base of the Israeli army, where they first got together with their families before they were flown to hospitals in the center of the country. Family members expressed relieved: "We saw that valley is correspondingly good for the circumstances. A tremendous burden falls from our hearts," which underlines the emotional effects of this joyful message.